By refusing to sign the Accord in Bangladesh even after nine years of its introduction, Levi’s and IKEA are putting their own profit over the lives and safety of those who work tirelessly for them alleges Amirul Haque Amin, President, National Garment Workers Federation, Bangladesh. The Accord was introduced in Bangladesh in April 2013 after the devastating Rana Plaza building collapse that killed 1,138 garment workers due to incredibly unsafe factory conditions.

The agreement has so far been signed by 173 brands including fast fashion giants like H&M, Inditex (Zara), Fast Retailing (UNIQLO) and PVH (Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein). Introduced in September 2021, the new version of the agreement allows it to be expanded to other countries known to violate factory safety rules. The new Accord aims to make workplaces safe for workers by establishing independent inspections, remediation, complaint mechanism, and safety committees in factories that supply to international brands and companies.

Levi’s says, it has “established itself as the leader in industry standards for responsible supply chain practices”. Similarly, IKEA claims to have set own standards with IWAY based on internationally recognized standards and principles for human rights, environmental protection and worker health and safety.

However, the schemes launched by both brands are underperforming, claimed a report released last month by the Clean Clothes Campaign. The report states, neither scheme meets the standards of the International Accord on worker’s safety, with research showing supplier factories scored poorly on many safety indicators.

India exported cotton textiles, including raw cotton, worth $15.29 billion in 2021-22, as per shows provisional data by Cotton Textiles Promotion Council (Texprocil) Manoj Kumar Patodia, Chairman, Texprocil says, India’s cotton textiles exports in 2020-21 totaled $9.8 billion against the target of $13.6 billion. Exports of all cotton textile and clothing products including yarn, fabrics, and madeups to countries such as Bangladesh, the US, Portugal and Sri Lanka grew during the year, Patodia informs.

Yarn exports to China too increased during the year as did cotton textile exports to Egypt and Portugal, notes Siddarth Rajgopal, Executive Director. Volume of exports also increased. Exporters expect cotton prices to remain high and plan to rebuild their business model, factoring in high raw material prices, say experts.

One of Europe’s biggest clothing retailers, Bestseller Fashion Group plans to close all 1,300 physical stores of its Selected menswear brand in China by July 2022. As per a Yicai Global report, Selected mainly sells business formals and business casuals for men. The brand tried to revive its business by launching new technical and functional product lines such as Siver and upgrading to attract new generation of shoppers. However, the brand failed to attract shoppers to its stores.

It was also plagued by rising store rents, management fees and other expenses The brand said, the pandemic has led to huge changes in consumer demand, affecting China’s traditional retail industry. Founded in 1997, Selected entered the Chinese market in 2008 as the fourth brand under Bestseller China after Only, Vero Moda, and Jack & Jones. Bestseller has more than 10,000 stores in more than 40 countries.

Tirupur exporters expect a 23 per cent decline in FY23 garment exports as European apparel brands have reduced garment offtake from Tirupur and Noida by up to 25 per cent due to the uncertainty in the region about the fallout of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The garment hub annually exports Rs 35,000 crore worth of goods. However, its exports volumes have declined due to lack of orders and high yarn prices which is delaying deliveries, says Raja Shanmugam, president, Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA).

Tirupur houses 2,000 knitwear garment export units and another 18,000 ancillary units that are suppliers to the knitwear units. These units have given a closure call on May 16 and 17 to protest against the rising yarn prices, notes Shanmugam

LalitThukral, President, Noida Apparel Export Cluster says, the units at Noida have seen a 15 per cent drop in orders from Europe. Unlike Tirupur, these sell high value items. Their base price for a garment is $5, which is likely to riseto $10. The cluster expects orders to remain low till the uncertainty in Europe continues.

The closure of global brands in Russia too has impacted Indian garment exporting units. Spanish fashion retailer Inditex that owns the Zara brand has halted trading in Russia, closing its 502 shops and stopping online sales a fortnight ago. H&M has also suspended operations in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine and imposition of sanctions. Spain's second-largest fashion retailer Mango has also announced temporarily closing its 120 Russian shops.